Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that she is stunned by Sen. Mitch McConnell’s prolonged absence from the Senate, arguing that lawmakers being away from Congress for extended periods can have major consequences when legislative margins are so narrow.
Speaking with a reporter outside the U.S. Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez questioned how McConnell’s continued absence has been treated as routine.
“I mean, this is — I don’t even know how this is legal. I really don’t even know how this is legal at this point. And it — I just find it shocking,” she said. “And how is everyone pretending this is normal? This is not normal. This is not normal, at all.”
The New York Democrat also referenced another Republican member of Congress who has been absent for months, though she did not identify Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., R-N.J., by name.
“First of all, how is it that we have sitting elected members of Congress going missing for months at a time when, especially right now when the margin — margin in the Senate are razor-thin, the margins in the House are razor-thin,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Every single person’s absence here has country-altering implications.”
While acknowledging that lawmakers can face legitimate medical issues, she argued there should be limits to how long elected officials remain away from their duties.
“There's a line here, and I think almost everyone can agree that it's been crossed,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks come after weeks of speculation surrounding the health and whereabouts of the 84-year-old Kentucky senator.
McConnell has not cast a vote in the Senate in more than a month following his hospitalization on June 14.
After weeks of questions, McConnell addressed the public on Sunday by releasing a statement along with a photograph from the hospital that included his wife.
In his statement, the longtime Republican senator said his absence was the result of a fall and a minor case of pneumonia.
“As much as it frustrates me, this process takes time. And on the advice of my doctors, I won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet,” McConnell wrote in a July 12 statement shared with The Hill.
Despite that explanation, questions about the senator’s condition have continued.
On Monday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., publicly questioned how recently the hospital photograph of McConnell may have been taken. Johnson later walked back those remarks.
McConnell’s absence has also drawn attention because of its potential impact on the Senate’s legislative work at a time when Republicans are navigating closely divided margins.
According to the article, the senator’s ongoing hospitalization, combined with the recent passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., presents a challenge for advancing the Trump administration’s agenda, particularly a $1.5 trillion defense spending package.
McConnell serves as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, which oversees Pentagon spending. The article states that his continued absence would require support from Democrats to move the legislation forward, support it characterizes as unlikely.
As questions continue surrounding McConnell’s recovery and return to Washington, Ocasio-Cortez argued that prolonged absences by elected officials have significant consequences, particularly when every vote in Congress carries added weight.
